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Abstract |
Because Telomere Length (Tl) And Dynamics Relate To Growth, Reproductive Investment And Survival, Telomeres Might Be Markers Of Individual Quality. In The King Penguin, We Tested The Hypothesis That Parental Tl Can Be A Marker Of Parental Quality. We Swapped The Egg Of Breeding Pairs To Disentangle The Contribution Of Pre And/or Post -Laying Parental Quality On Chick’s Growth, Tl And Survival. Parental Quality Was Estimated Through The Effects Of Biological And Foster Parent Tl On Offspring Traits, 10 Or 105 Days After Hatching. We Show That Chick Survival Up To 10 Days Was Negatively Related To Biological Fathers’ Tl Whereas Survival Up To 105 Days Was Positively Related To Foster Fathers’ Tl. Chick Growth Was Not Related To Parents’ Tl. Chick Tl Was Positively Related To Foster Mothers’ Tl At Both 10 And 105 Days. Overall, We Show That, In A Species With Bi-parental Care, Parents’ Tl Is Foremost A Proxy Of Parental Care Quality, Supporting The Telomere &Ndash; Parental Quality Hypothesis. |
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